Does your keyboard have a button on the bottom right hand side that is a keyboard with an arrow down? Press that and it should disappear. The keyboard usually only comes up when the cursor is in a field that requires input. So if it is asking for your password enter it. Or turn off your password in settings/passcode/turn off passcode
Yes, the keyboard does have that button but I have pressed it several times over the past hour or so and it doesn't disappear. This has never happened before and the keyboard is much larger than it normally is when I am writing e-mails etc.
The problem is that I cannot enter my numbers to open my iPad because the keyboard takes up a good half of the screen.